


Soaked and Shivering

by coffeestainsandcashmere



Series: Short Stories [10]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Theo is a good boyfriend, draco gets the flu, this is why you shouldn't play quidditch in the pouring rain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:54:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25410472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeestainsandcashmere/pseuds/coffeestainsandcashmere
Summary: "“Fuck…” Draco mumbled, staggering as he tried to cross the room.Groggily, Theo sat up, his curly hair all over the place, his eyes prickling as he tried to blink the lingering sleep from his mind. “Draco, what’s up? It’s the arse-crack of dawn… You alright?”His soaked quidditch kit was still mouldering on the floor where he’d peeled it off himself the night before, and from the sounds of the churning lake above the dungeons, the weather had not improved.Theo got no response, and Draco’s head sagged. His knees gave out a heartbeat later, and he slumped to the floor like a dropped puppet."Tumblr prompt, in which Draco gets the flu and Theo takes care of him. Pure fluff.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Theodore Nott
Series: Short Stories [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1810282
Comments: 5
Kudos: 89





	Soaked and Shivering

**Author's Note:**

> It feels as though it would fit with my [All That’s Best of Dark and Bright universe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24734746/chapters/59793856) but it stands alone well enough.

“Fuck…” Draco mumbled, staggering as he tried to cross the room. 

Groggily, Theo sat up, his curly hair all over the place, his eyes prickling as he tried to blink the lingering sleep from his mind. “Draco, what’s up? It’s the arse-crack of dawn… You alright?”

His soaked quidditch kit was still mouldering on the floor where he’d peeled it off himself the night before, and from the sounds of the churning lake above the dungeons, the weather had not improved. 

Theo got no response, and Draco’s head sagged. His knees gave out a heartbeat later, and he slumped to the floor like a dropped puppet. 

Scrambling out of bed, Theo flung himself down beside him and touched the back of his hand to Draco’s forehead. Fever-hot and drenched in sweat, Draco barely even managed a groan. His pale cheeks sported an unhealthy flush, and he mumbled something that Theo didn’t catch. 

“You need to get to the hospital wing,” Theo muttered. “Come on.”

Supporting him under one arm, Theo wrangled an old t-shirt on over Draco’s head and led him up out of the dungeons. At this time of the morning, there was hardly anyone about, and Theo thanked their ancestors for that small mercy. He nearly lost Draco a couple of times as he slithered out of his grasp, sagging and stumbling, but Theo’s wiry body was stronger than many gave it credit for, and he finally lurched into the hospital wing with Draco barely clinging to consciousness at his side. 

“What on earth…?” Madam Pomfrey chirped as she looked up from her desk at the far end. 

“Ordinary flu, I think,” Theo grunted as he struggled with Draco’s not inconsiderable weight. Slender he might have been, but he was all muscle, with hardly an ounce of fat on him.

“Put him in bed three,” she said matter-of-factly, but Draco’s grey eyes rolled and he lost consciousness properly this time, sliding out of Theo’s hands and nearly hitting the floor before Theo got a better hold of him. “Levicorpus,” Madam Pomfrey barked, and Draco rose, floating over to the bed and settling gently. “Why didn’t you just bring him up here like that?” she scoffed. 

“Mostly because of the indignity of it,” Theo admitted. “Though it would probably have been easier.” He was warm and sticky himself now from the effort of supporting Draco all the way up there.

After some fuss and further scoffing, the matron managed to wake Draco long enough to get a Pepperup Potion down him, and then told him to rest. 

“Can I stay?” Theo asked quietly and she fixed him with a long, steady look. 

“Very well, but he’s here to rest, alright?”

Theo nodded, and picked up Draco’s hand, absently stroking his thumb across the bumps of his knuckles and tracing the engravings on his signet ring. 

Twenty minutes later, Draco’s eyelids fluttered and his lips moved. 

“Drake?” Theo whispered, but his boyfriend only groaned. 

His head lolled feverishly to one side and he sucked in a wheezing breath, moaning and half-sobbing. A shudder ran right through him and he twitched once or twice too. 

“Easy,” Theo crooned, rising and stroking Draco’s damp forelock out of his eyes. “Shh, shh,” he breathed. “It’s alright. You’re safe here. Those are just memories… Rest, Draco…”

“Theo!” Draco choked, eyes rolling back. 

“I’m here. I’m right here.”

“…Theo…” 

Still stroking his beautiful, silver hair, Theo pressed a kiss to his sweaty forehead. “I know. I know. I’m here.”

Looking up, he saw that Madam Pomfrey was returning, and this time she had a draft of dreamless sleep in her hands. “Get this down him now that the Pepperup has started to work,” she said without preamble. 

Supporting Draco’s lolling head, Theo coaxed him awake, and managed to ease the potion down, sip by sip, until Draco sagged again and went limp in his arms. Theo set the empty bottle down on the bedside table and continued to stroke Draco’s hair until the bell for class sounded. 

The flush in his cheeks faded over the course of the day, and after supper, Draco was sitting up in bed. When Theo returned that evening, he found Draco resting but awake, a potions textbook held loosely in his hands. 

He looked up as Theo strode down the row of beds, and smiled openly. “Hey,” he said, voice a little rough. 

“You’re looking better,” Theo smiled as he sank down on to the bed and interlaced his fingers with Draco’s own. “How are you feeling?”

Draco nodded once. 

“You’re supposed to be resting, you know?” Theo said, eyeing the book. “Where’d you even get that anyway?”

“Pansy stopped by after classes. I asked her if she had anything I could read, and she practically flung this at me.”

Theo leaned in to press a kiss to Draco’s lips, but he pursed them and leaned back. “I’ve got death breath, Theo,” he scowled, appalled that Theo would be willing to kiss him after a night and a day in the hospital wing.

Laughing, Theo grabbed his sharp chin and turned him back to face him. “And I’ve got garlic breath,” he grinned before kissing him fiercely. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it. Come find me on Tumblr and leave me a prompt if you like - [coffeestainsandcashmere](https://coffeestainsandcashmere.tumblr.com)


End file.
